Reelin’ For Research
Matt Spencer, Ben Seegars, John Seegars, Scott LaFevers, and Bobby Batchelor with the winning trio of wahoo and dolphin in the Reelin' For Research Tournament, including the 59.4 lb. fish that secured their victory. Photo coutesy of Ted Lewis Photography.
Capturing the First Place and the Biggest Fish honors, the Morehead City boat “Chainlink” scaled a 59.4 lb. wahoo to anchor their 101.6 lb., three-fish winning weight in the 2011 Reelin’ for Research Blue Water Tournament, held out of Jack’s Waterfront Bar in Morehead City.
“We knew we had some good fish,” Bobby Batchelor, one of the crew members, explained, “but we had no idea we’d be in any kind of run for anything.”
Batchelor, who was fishing with Ben and John Seegars (of Seegars Fence Company), Scott LaFevers, Matt Spencer, Capt. Ralph Griffin, and mate Jon Huff aboard the 54’ Jarett Bay, may have underestimated the crew’s catch, as they topped the second place boat by precisely 20 lbs.
The “Chainlink” anglers didn’t pre-fish for the tournament but had an idea where they wanted to start on the morning of the event.
“We’ve got some areas we typically fish,” Batchelor continued. “We started a little south of the Big Rock.”
The crew got their first bite 45 minutes after they’d deployed a trolling spread targeting dolphin and wahoo.
“That first fish was the biggest one,” Batchelor said.
LaFevers took the rod after the big wahoo took a purple/black trolling plug behind a planer.
It made a strong first run, but the heavy drag on the bent-butt planer outfit quickly took its toll, and LaFevers had the fish boatside in a little over 10 minutes.
When it was within range, Ben Seegars planted the steel and put the tournament’s biggest fish on ice.
The crew continued pounding the area where they scored their first bite, and around an hour later hooked the other two wahoo that made up their winning weight, one on the same planer bait and one on a ballyhoo on top.
After landing three healthy wahoo and not wanting to run far in 6’ seas, the “Chainlink” team continued fishing the same area for the rest of the day, landing plenty of 10-20 lb. dolphin but no more wahoo.
Capt. Thomas Wood and the “Dancin’ Outlaw” crew locked up the event’s second place spot with an 81.6 lb. three-fish aggregate.
Emma Baggett, aboard the “Bluewater,” secured the Reelin’ for Research Top Lady Angler award with a 25.4 lb. wahoo.
The Reelin’ for Research tournament raises funds for NC Children’s Promise and the NC Children’s Hospital specifically for pediatric cancer research. The tournament committee wishes to extend gratitude to all the anglers and sponsors in the event for their roles in supporting this worthy cause.
